Fitness update - new lifting approach and slight relative grip progress

Saturday, 7 June 2014 
60 min., 225 lb. 

walking - 10 min. 

db incline press: 20 x 5 @ 20, 20, 30, 30, 30 lb. 

db press: 20 x 5 @ 40 lb. 

guillotine: 20 x 5 @ 105 lb. 

- 

short head EZ bar spider curl: 20 x 5 @ 40 lb. 

long head EZ bar spider curl: 20 x 5 @ 40 lb. 

underhand curl: 20 x 5 @ 20 lb. 

-

[Later that evening I took a nice 30-35 min. walk with my wife and the kids. My legs actually feel a bit sore today from it. Walking is a great, great thing. If only I could find a good trail to hike....]

+ + + 

For the above, I did the three chest exercises, followed by the three bicep exercises, with moderate rest between all exercises. 

As of today, Sunday, I can report  pleasing soreness in all the right muscles, and a desire to keep this up and see what results I get. My next "pump" workout will be like so (until further notice): 

db MP
lateral delt flye 
neutral grip sternum PU
Pendlay row
Kroc row
CL-P

On my way out yesterday, I spoke with a former trainer at my gym, and I learned two things. 

First, next time I do the chest/bicep "pump" workout, I will raise the weight by about 15% on each lift, and stick to 16-rep sets (allowing for lower "failed" sets towards the end). "20 reps seems like a bit much," he said. And he's huge and vital, so I'll listen. 

Second, as I described what happened to my quad last week, he said, "That's probably an adhesion." As the article just linked notes, 

"[Adhesions] are places where the muscle has become chronically contracted. It can be an entire muscle, but more than likely it is a small band within the greater muscle. ... Things that cause adhesions are dehydration, overuse, and injury. ... The best way to treat an adhesion is with massage and stretching." 

Guilty as charged on the overuse front. And, as I suspected, what happened last week is that my "adhesion" (finally brought about by dead squats) was released under high tension on a front squat. My leg feels better already, but I am taking my time getting back into squatting. 

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Sunday, 8 June 2014 
Grip training PLUS
25 min., 226 lb. 

warmup - space mace, stretching, ghetto grippers

CoC #2 - 1 close (?) L, 1 close R

CoC #2 - 1 close L, 1 close R

CoC #2 (with chalk) - 1 near-close L, 1 close R

CoC #1.5 - 8 closes

CoC #1.5 (inverted grip) - 7 closes

ab wheel - 12, 12

forehead bridge - 20 sec., 30 sec., 35 sec.

+ + + 

Compared my last grip session, that is progress, though I'm still behind where I was a couple years ago.

It's a shame I don't get called up for battle duty, because, if I could find a compelling reason to avoid alcohol completely, I would be beastly.

For now, though, it's much better to remain...

Patient... Humble... Simple... 

Fitness update - June 2014 (hitting a wall, shrugging it off, rage in the ga-rage, getting a grip)

Wednesday, 4 June 2014 
Shurg rush 
55 min., 225 lb.

warm-up

FSQ: 10, 5* @ 145, 195 lb.
[Okay, so... you CAN overtrain on squats. My dead squats on Monday must have challenged me more than I realized. I took Tuesday off, but when I got into the gym on Wednesday, I felt "weak" right away on squats. As I sank into the hole on rep 6 at 195 lb., I felt something between my vastus medialis and vastus intermedius "give" in my right leg and I lost all power. When whatever-it-was "gave", I felt a distinct popping sensation and what felt like a hollow marble. It was not a searing, tearing pain and I have not lost any mobility. The leg was still load bearing, just very tender and achey. By Thursday I was even able to jog lightly, so I'm not really worried about this setback. I simply strained under-recovered muscles, and they let me know it. Admittedly, I was pretty distracted and demoralized for the rest of my workout, but I led myself through it. After a week of three PR's in a row, it might have been wise to light(er) this week, but what do I know!?]

hypers: 15, 15, 12, 12 @ bdw, 10, 25, 35 lb.

Kelso shrug: 12, 12, 10, 10 @ 195, 215, 225, 235 lb.

bench shrug: 12, 12, 12 @ 225, 245, 275 lb.

pullover: 15, 15, 12, 12 @ 50, 60, 70, 80 lb.

snatch shrug: 10, 10, 10 @ 215, 225, 235 lb.

[Compared to my last two Shurg Rushes, I used lighter weight for more reps. I think I'm interested in trying a few weeks of high-volume, high "pump" weightlifting, and I didn't want to risk taxing my neck again just a couple weeks outside of a strain.]

---------------------------

Thursday, 5 June 2014 
Garage fitness
35 min., 225 lb.

[My buddy came over for a workout and we did the following circuits. I set my watch with a repeating 1'05" timer. Halfway through the workout, we realized that my double-end bag had a leak, so it's time to spring for a nicer one. I wore out my first double-end bag, woohoo!]

double end bag - 1 min.
heavy bag - 1 min.
[1 min. rest]
sling pushups & rows - 1 min.
sling dips & curls - 1 min.
[1 min. rest]
jump rope - 1 min.
tire/sledge - 1 min.
[1 min. rest]

REPEAT for 4 cycles

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Friday, 6 June 2014 
Grip training
30 min., 225 lb.

warm-up - gyro ball, space mace, ghetto grippers

CoC #1.5 - 10 closes

CoC #2 - 0 L, 1 R

CoC #2 - 0 L, 1 R

CoC #1.5 - 7 closes, 2 closes

dino db hold (2", 74 lb) -
60 sec
42 sec
40 sec

[I've lost some ground on my grip strength, but I also trained at night, on a Friday, when I don't eat meat, and eat less in general. Just have to keep on keepin' on....]

Gym regimen - 2 June 2014 ("the abomination of de-elevation")

Monday, 2 June 2014 
Quasi-Even Keel 
65 min., 226 lb.
MOOD: eager, confident, focused, although I did have a dip in energy on the way to the gym; wanted to get a Cytomax or something, but I didn't 

warm-up: squats, stretching, scorpions, etc.

dead SQ*: 8, 8, 6, 4, 3, 3 @ 145, 195, 235, 285, 305 lb.  

incline db flye: 15, 12, 10, 8, 8, 12 @ 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 50 lb.

EZ bar spider curl: 15, 12, 10, 8, 10, 10 @ 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 lb.

* Last night I saw a video of a guy doing what he called an "abomination" squat, so I wanted to try them out. The trainer I ran into at the gym called them "dead squats," which makes more sense, and is a less stupid name, too. When you reach the bottom of your squat, just pause for a couple seconds, and then drive up. As with deadlifts, there is no momentum to bounce you back up, hence the name, dead squats. Very good stuff!

I think I shall train grip tomorrow, and then do a squat + Shurg Rush on Wednesday, some squats + chest + press on Thursday, and then SDL + back + bi's on Friday. Nothing too heavy all this week. I want to give my lower back plenty of days to recover from my deadlift PR last week.